Friday, July 12, 2013

super session

Al Kooper teamed up with Mike Bloomfield and then Stephen Stills to create this transformative blues exploration. Kooper had been working in various capacities in the music business since he was a teenager. His work as a musician, songwriter, and engineer had culminated in the formation of Blood, Sweat & Tears; although he left the group after their debut 'Child is Father to the Man' to become an A&R man at Colombia Records. Bloomfield had cut his teeth playing in blues clubs in the south side of Chicago before stints in the Butterfield Blues Bandand the Electric Flag. He and Kooper had met during the recording of Bob Dylan's seminal 'Highway 61 Revisited' and the resulting tour. Kooper was putting together a group to record an album and Bloomfield agreed to take part in the proceedings. Kooper booked two days of studio time; but Bloomfield could not attend the second day. At the last minute, Kooper called Stills who had recently left his band Buffalo Springfieldand Stills came in to record with the same backing band.

'Super Session' features Al Kooper on vocals, piano, organ, ondioline, electric guitar, and twelve-string guitar; Mike Bloomfield on guitars on side one; Stephen Stills on guitars on side two; Barry Goldberg on electric piano on "Albert's Shuffle" and "Stop"; Harvey Brooks on bass; Eddie Hoh on drums and percussion. 'Super Session' went to number twelve on the US album chart and sold over a million copies. http://www.alkooper.com/http://www.mikebloomfield.com/http://www.stephenstills.com/